Brad Takes On The Darkness

Okay, so the video suggests that - maybe - extended video coverage benefits from the guidance of Jeff, Vinny, or Ryan to get things back on topic every now and again, and perhaps to expand on the game and its mechanics in their respective ways. However, some people really need to get a sense of perspective. The staff clearly read these comments, and seeing furious personal insults is probably quite unpleasant. We know that Brad gets anxious on camera, and we also know that he hasn't played this game in five years - is it really appropriate to accuse him of being mentally deficient? It's super easy to be an asshole on the internet. I enjoyed Breaking Brad a lot - maybe there won't be another one, lest people go mental in the way that they are here.

Didn't find Patrick or Dave funny? "You should give more focus to the game than irreverent conversation" would be sufficient feedback. You wanted to see how the story unfolds in the last part of The Darkness? Uh... what? If that's the case, why wouldn't you just play the game? From the start? Or watch a Let's Play? I mean, when has one-off GB video content EVER given focus to a game's narrative? This isn't a reasonable request.

Anybody notice The Wire's Major Valchek aka Al Brown? All I could hear that whole part was "chain of command lieutenant".

@Chibi_Gaara said:

@CrashTanuki said:

I hope there's a part two so we can see the end.

go check brads profile people and check his achievements, hes beaten the darkness, and he even got the achievement for using the demon arm XP, so no more part 2

(good riddance, giantbomb defenders and haters be damned, i dont care, i hated this video and i have every right to do so),

so expect to hear something on the bombcast

@PropaneJoe: I really don't think people that review games for a living need someone like you to white knight for them. I'm sure they've dealt with harsh critics before. There's really no need to mother them. They'll be just fine.

@Sooty said:

@AlisterCat said:

This video really made me appreciate how good The Darkness 2 is. This game was amazing at the time though.

I thought the shooting was kind of janky but it was definitely unique and until The Darkness 2 has remained so, not an easy feat!

Strictly opinion, but in uniqueness I still feel The darkness is the definite superior, I'm about halfway through the Darkness 2 now. I can possibly see a plot twist coming up, but I am thinking more of setting, graphical atmosphere and such. I'll see what my tune is at the end. in terms of shooting I remember the Darkness to be pretty tedious. It's pissing me off some in the darkness 2 but actually the combat is quite decent, I know it's my fault. FoV can be a little difficult, as is turning around, and all that is quite on purpose. More skill.

@Metal_Mills said:

Video game communities are the fucking worst.

Go check out communities for sports teams or sports in general. I was pleasantly surprised at just how amazing those places are. They haven't perfected the art of veiled insults or well placed flame-bait comments like most game communties, they just fucking lose it on each other like a bunch of wild animals.

@EchoEcho said:

@radioactivez0r said:

@EchoEcho: It's not entitlement when it's content produced for paying subscribers, and that content is kind of crappy.

This was a random, spur-of-the-moment idea for a live stream -- not some pre-planned event where they promised something very specific, then failed to deliver on that promise. The only "promise" was that Brad would be playing The Darkness, and that promise was fulfilled. When someone complains about bonus content -- extra, unplanned, unscheduled content that nobody was forced to watch -- because it wasn't performed precisely to their expectations, that's entitlement, paying subscriber or not. (Also, whether or not the content is "crappy" is subjective.)

I think it's important to remind people whenever the "I'm a paying subscriber!" argument arises in regards to "entitlement" that subscribers aren't shareholders. Our money does not in any way give us the right to tell Giant Bomb what to do with their website, nor to dictate how they can or cannot behave in their videos. The money we pay with our subscriptions is to support Giant Bomb in their endeavors; it's a donation, and we can stop donating at any time if we stop enjoying what they do. The premium content is simply an incentive to keep giving them our money.

The guys at Giant Bomb have been pretty up front about their purpose with this site: to be personality-driven; to be who they are and do what they want, regardless of what anyone says. They are more than happy to take suggestions about fresh content from the community, but as a personality-driven website, they aren't going to listen to whiny, nitpicking complaints about how so-and-so wasn't talking enough about the game, or a certain person wasn't playing said game skillfully enough. Changing their personalities to suit the vocal minority who find some of their behavior annoying would be counter to the point of this website.

I don't agree that it's a donation - it's a subscription for access to a "service". If it was a donation, they'd call it a donation.

That aside, I agree with most of the rest of what you said. When they do this spur of the moment stuff, some of it will hit, and some of it will miss. Being a whiny little piece of shit because a thing you didn't know was going to happen a few minutes before they went live didn't live up to your standards, is ridiculous.

This is what they do - free-form, personality-driven video game content. If you don't like it (I'm looking at guys like "gladspooky", who are always reliably whining in the comments), then for the love of God and all that is holy, don't renew your subscription. That's your one major "voice" as a customer. I kind of wish they'd just say "fuck it", and give this small, incredibly loud contingent of subscribers their money back, followed by a perma-ban.

I watched this one live, and it wasn't that great. Brad, as per usual when playing video games for a crowd, was fumbling in the dark and getting maimed because he wouldn't stop for half a second and consider his options. And that's fine - part of Brad being Brad, is Brad being kind of bad at the game he's playing on video. Sometimes it enhances a video's hilarity, and sometimes it just makes you want to throw your keyboard at the screen. But that's Brad, and it always has been.

I just can't take seeing every video thread where the content wasn't pure gold devolve into the same 30 assholes griping about how they hate Patrick/Brad/Jeff/Dave/Ryan/Whoever, while simultaneously having a gold or silver medal under their avatar. Stop giving them your money, and go the fuck away.

I just finished the game today and hey, turns out that save was on hard. Oops!

I played through this game earlier last week and just watched this video. If anyone can feel frustrated watching someone play through the later parts of a game that they haven't touched in years, it's a guy for whom it's still extremely fresh. What I don't understand is why people in the comments can't express themselves and their frustration any better than a bunch of kids can.

I just finished the game today and hey, turns out that save was on hard. Oops!

I've watched Downton Abbey and can say that is exactly what WW1 looked like.

I just finished the game today and hey, turns out that save was on hard. Oops!

@Brad: Congrats on finishing it. Now you can be depressed about the ending with Jenny like the rest of us.

@Scotto said:

This is what they do - free-form, personality-driven video game content. If you don't like it (I'm looking at guys like "gladspooky", who are always reliably whining in the comments), then for the love of God and all that is holy, don't renew your subscription.

Look, I like most of Giant Bomb's content. You know how I show that? I give them money. Unfortunately I can't take money away from them when they produce something I dislike (and I probably wouldn't if I could, anyway), so I post about it and say, "Hey, that was kind of dumb." Excuse the crap out of me for providing feedback that isn't "EVERYTHING IS GREAT AND NOTHING IS BAD!!"

Anyway, this video was alright, I guess.

@depecheload said:

@Vitor said:

I mean, when more than half the comments are people COMPLAINING about the content of the video, you're clearly fucking up.

I would venture that, at tops, a THIRD of the people who visit this site (or any site) even leave comments. And people are always more likely to leave a comment if they're pissy than if they're happy. So I wouldn't say that's and accurate measutre of anything.

If I wanted to watch someone play a video game, I'd go to YoutTube, I come here for all the insanity around it.

Agree totally with you sir. There is'nt a more entertaining site on the net and i'm more than happy - certainly worth 5 bucks a month. This team is really quite small for the quality content they more-often-than-not come up with. A bunch of you folks need to hose the sand out of your vaginas.

@Brad said:

I just finished the game today and hey, turns out that save was on hard. Oops!

It seemed like you were getting killed a lot faster than I expected. Can we expect to hear your thoughts about the game/story on the bombcast this week?

@Brad said:

I just finished the game today and hey, turns out that save was on hard. Oops!

@Frumpa said:

@depecheload said:

@Vitor said:

I mean, when more than half the comments are people COMPLAINING about the content of the video, you're clearly fucking up.

I would venture that, at tops, a THIRD of the people who visit this site (or any site) even leave comments. And people are always more likely to leave a comment if they're pissy than if they're happy. So I wouldn't say that's and accurate measutre of anything.

If I wanted to watch someone play a video game, I'd go to YoutTube, I come here for all the insanity around it.

Agree totally with you sir. There is'nt a more entertaining site on the net and i'm more than happy - certainly worth 5 bucks a month. This team is really quite small for the quality content they more-often-than-not come up with. A bunch of you folks need to hose the sand out of your vaginas.

A third is even shooting preeeeeeeeetty high. If you look at how many registered users they have (around 85K) and then look at the comment sections, you realize how few people actually comment. And that doesn't even factor in the number of people who don't even have accounts registered.

But it DOES never fail to make me cackle at the number of people who apparently just want a silent, deathless speed run.

@mrfluke: Cannot wait for the next BLLSL. Man, good times. It's so good.

@Undeadpool said:

But it DOES never fail to make me cackle at the number of people who apparently just want a silent, deathless speed run.

Hahah indeed! If they got exactly what they wanted, Giantbomb would just be Gametrailers or IGN. I don't know about the rest of you all, but I handed money over to Giantbomb for the expressed purposes of them screwing up and having fun on camera. You can't force good improv either, or you'll get exactly what you deserve.

The loud minority will be the loud minority though. Different strokes to move the world.

Keep getting killed Brad, most of us love you for it.

Man, vocal minority.

I thought this was a cool video, the first 25% was a bit tedious as they didn't really remember how to play but once brad got in a groove it was fine. It gave me a cool look at a game I would have never picked up. Sucks to hear @Brad finished it, would have loved a part 2 of this video. I guess now I'll have to play it for myself now, hah.

I swear to god Brad has early onset dementia.

This is what they do - free-form, personality-driven video game content.

@Frumpa said:

@depecheload said:

@Vitor said:

I mean, when more than half the comments are people COMPLAINING about the content of the video, you're clearly fucking up.

I would venture that, at tops, a THIRD of the people who visit this site (or any site) even leave comments. And people are always more likely to leave a comment if they're pissy than if they're happy. So I wouldn't say that's and accurate measutre of anything.

If I wanted to watch someone play a video game, I'd go to YoutTube, I come here for all the insanity around it.

Agree totally with you sir. There is'nt a more entertaining site on the net and i'm more than happy - certainly worth 5 bucks a month. This team is really quite small for the quality content they more-often-than-not come up with. A bunch of you folks need to hose the sand out of your vaginas.

That's the reason I subscribe and I agree also.

And I never meant 50% of all comments on the site. But if you see the first few pages of comments on this video, that numbers wasn't far off when I first watched it.

The good content far outweighs the bad. But that doesn't mean we aren't allowed to criticize when there's clearly room for improvement.

Now, calling Brad and Patrick names and generally being a dick is not the way to go about it. And honestly, who cares how well Brad plays games? I've had to try and explain games to friends while playing and it is hard. That being said, they need to start opening the manual and reading it through briefly before any run through of a game, especially the older ones. I don't see how that would have a negative affect on the content at all. And it would certainly silence a lot of the screaming that goes on in the comments regarding any misinformation/mistakes made.

@Vitor said:

And honestly, who cares how well Brad plays games?

*slowly raises hand?*

@Brad said:

I just finished the game today and hey, turns out that save was on hard. Oops!

I'm about halfway through, and still enjoying this video. I come for yuks, not for flawless speedruns.

@GalacticPunt said:

@Brad said:

I just finished the game today and hey, turns out that save was on hard. Oops!

I'm about halfway through, and still enjoying this video. I come for yuks, not for flawless speedruns.

YUP! Me too! lol

Didn't find Patrick or Dave funny? "You should give more focus to the game than irreverent conversation" would be sufficient feedback. You wanted to see how the story unfolds in the last part of The Darkness? Uh... what? If that's the case, why wouldn't you just play the game? From the start? Or watch a Let's Play? I mean, when has one-off GB video content EVER given focus to a game's narrative? This isn't a reasonable request.

@Jumanji said:

The indifference by the couch guys to the audio issues is a good example of what's wrong with the sloppy mentality behind of the production of this particular video.

I actually found the whole thing rather charming - GB has proven they can do polished high level video, and they're also not afraid to just turn on the cameras and see what the hell happens. And yeah, sometimes, what the hell happens doesn't quite work out right.

If this event had been a fully scheduled production, with full tech crew, fully prepared on the back end and edited for pacing and other issues, then I think "sloppy" would be an appropriate criticism. But it had all the hallmarks of a last minute decision, a "hey, I think people would find this cool" sort of thing that makes GB so endearing.

You can't get it both ways - if you want polished video all the time, you have to lose the spontaneity that makes this website stand out from many of the other websites. (Because, I don't care how good you are - you can't be polished and spontaneous all the time. It's the nature of the art - even the best improv actors have bad nights. I'm surprised and pleased GB and the other Whiskey Media properties manage to do as well as they do as is.) I'm quite prepared to accept bad camera shots, bad audio, bad colour balance, bad dialogue, and all the things that come from live unplanned streams to get the spontaneous, "real" feeling that is almost impossible to produce any other way.

JGH

@NoelVeiga: If you went into Doom for the express purpose of getting the story and finding out what happens in the next installment and then proceed to get bored and not want to pay attention to the story your ruining it.

In honor of Patrick's Quote at 1:57:00

Wow, I gave up in WW1. Nowhere close.

no captain midnight...

@AMReese:So approaching criticism with the perspective that you are talking to real people is "white knighting". Am I allowed to go against the tide in any way which won't be lazily labelled "white knighting"?

Man I forgot what a great looking game The Darkness was, it holds up pretty well.

I must say that I had high hopes for this video: I wanted my GF to see how awesome and sad the ending is.

This video should've been perfect: 1 part Breaking Brad, 1 part LOLS: But this clearly went off the rails.

It seems the game was on hard so that explains why Brad kept dying. I don't blame him for not knowing or discovering or remembering every thing, it happens after revisiting a game after 4.5 years.

But goddamnit Patrick and Dave seriously failed Brad during this video. It was clear that he needed guidance and they kept yammering on about stupid Kilgon movie shit. If Brad was supposed to see the game for its story, this environment wasn't suitable in any way.

Hell there shouldn't of been any video in this case and Brad would've been able to see the story, look up a FAQ, and explore every nook and cranny and we would've been spared seeing two hours of Brad being frustrated while his co-pilots sit there not giving a shit.

@ItsAJackal said:

Dear Brad,

Please learn how to play video games.

Thanks,

Community

You fucking child

Everyone needs to stop acting like children or if they can't. Fuck off and leave the site to the people who actually care and like the product

Man, remember when you used to have to take cover to avoid bullets?
Brad doesn't.

Anyone who talks shit about these videos is so so dumb. Just have fun and fucking watch them, Jesus Christ.

What's gotten into this community.

This game really fucks with my OCD. I feel like the right demonhead snake thing eats WAY more human hearts than the left one.

Brad sucks at most games. What an inspirational story.

No final goodbye or Captain Midnight. Well Shit.

@PropaneJoe: Treating them like a bunch of kids that need to be mothered is "white knighting". Do you think anyone has said anything in these comments without thinking they're talking about real people? Of course not.

@Nerolus: Only the right side eats the hearts. The left side fights over it sometimes, but never gets one. That's why, in the idle animations, the right one messes with the left one a lot. It's a kind of big brother / little brother relationship going on between them. It adds to the personality of the demons.

Guys! I basically watched this as a Dave & Patrick podcast with cuts to Brad playing The Darkness. And I had a pretty decent time. I get why you're bummed out because you were hoping for the actual gameplay to be more interesting, and it was pretty boring and occasionally pretty frustrating (which is why most of LOLS has been games like Halo.) But the conversation Dave and Patrick had was actually pretty entertaining, and the original idea was vague enough to simply serve as a springboard for conversation all the same.

I don't mean to white-knight here, but let's not get hyperbolic as to this being some kind of dark spot on Giant Bomb's video history or even one of the worst videos of the month. I found it more interesting than most of the Quick Looks so far this month. If they decide to finish the game on-camera (it sounds like Brad's probably finished over President's Day weekend) I will watch it.

It supposed to be like an endurance for Brad, but really the endurance is on the viewer.

@DeadPan said:

@ItsAJackal said:

Dear Brad,

Please learn how to play video games.

Thanks,

Community

You fucking child

Everyone needs to stop acting like children or if they can't. Fuck off and leave the site to the people who actually care and like the product

lol yes, because with that response you are clearly showing how the community should be acting

man has long since asked "is that a dude? no. it's a trash can."

Watching Brad playing a video game is the ultimate gem of Giant Bomb. Money well spent!

@takua108 said:

Anyone who talks shit about these videos is so so dumb. Just have fun and fucking watch them, Jesus Christ.

What's gotten into this community.

A darkness has seeped into this community..

But seriously, I love these videos, I for one can't have enough of any of the top men at Giant Bomb. I'd watch them scrub floors and it'd still entertain my pants off.